Our trip to Farmington, NM

A week and a half ago, Rebecca's Uncle Joe passed away, so we loaded into the mini-van on Wednesday night and headed to Farmington, NM. The trip down was pretty uneventful, other than my mother-in-law almost falling down an embankment in the dark.
We'd heard that the Motel 6 in town was cheap, but decent, so we booked two rooms there. The cheap part was true, but the place was a complete craphole. When we got there, there was no hot water, and after more than nine hours in the van, we all really wanted hot water. With that not being an option, we headed to lunch. On our way home, we were hit by a huge downpour. When we got back to the motel, my in-laws' room had flooded, and all of their funeral clothes had been drenched. The motel was more than happy to move them, so they moved them into a room with no air...and we still didn't have hot water.
The manager was gracious enough to offer us discount coupons for our next stay at Motel 6. I informed him that we would not be staying at Motel 6 any time in the future...so they refunded both of the rooms for the entire stay...I still feel like we got ripped off.
The funeral was a big affair, and I think most of the town was there. Joe had lived there most of his life, and he'd been a Navy veteran and a former Fire Captain, and he was very popular in the community.
Since he'd been in the fire department, the funeral procession was escorted by two fire trucks, and as we passed the main fire station, all of those left on duty were standing outside saluting the procession...a very touching gesture. I noticed a big difference about funerals in small towns as opposed to funerals in larger cities. For one thing, as the procession was passing through town, cars on the other side of the road were pulling over, and men were taking off their hats. In the "city," funeral processions seem to be seen as an impediment to traffic, and most people are quite rude in dealing with them. Also, the cemetery was right next to a park. As we passed the park, everyone stopped what they were doing and silently watched the procession...and it was a long procession.
Our return home was as uncomfortable as the trip down...you can only fit so many people into a mini-van. The highlight of the trip home was when were on I-25 just north of Walsenberg. Rebecca looked up a hillside, and started shouting "There's a bear." And sure enough, a small black bear was making his way down the hill. It was the first time I've ever actually seen a bear in the wild. I just hope he stayed off the highway.
We're now very exhausted, and we have to start back to work, with Rebecca going in very early today, and me going in very early tomorrow. I also have a lot of catching up to do as well.

The Martian Wave as an e-book

Sam's Dot Publishing has released Vol. 2 of The Martian Wave, which I edited, as an e-book.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/82388

What's in this issue?

This issue of The Martian Wave includes six evocative tales and five thought-provoking poems that will launch you into escape velocity! Bear witness to first contact with the starship crew of Molly Brown and an alien observer as they communicate via music in “Grand Ol’ Opry” by Laura R. Givens. Join Captain Anjela Stewart and her first mate Chris Lockwood of the Venture Forth, in Robert J. Mendenhalls’s “Full Moon”, as they, and other refugee ships, are turned away from Beta and Moon Base, seeking sanctuary in the wake of earth-destroying asteroid XF11. There are other unique and breath-stealing tales. . .from Robert N. Stephenson’s “A Miner Delay” where AI 7-12 Silva argues with his human-centered boss that he deserves to be sent to earth for an emotional and physical upgrade; Douglas A. Smith’s “Hydrogen” takes you on board the Sir Francis Drake while the crew wrestles with a sudden incapacitating illness. . .Is it connected to their propulsion systems? Dan Thompson’s “Terminator”, propels you into imminent disaster with Engineering Architect Ben Gage and Colonel Katerina Petrovna Mayakovski as they attempt to reform an asteroid to house refugees from the Belt Confederacy and the United Nations of Earth war--amid the imminent threat of an Assassin attack!; and N.E. Chenier’s “Latency”, where research vessel Naut-47 is investigating HRK-a for developers of human colonies. The science crew discovers that not only is the planet suitable for habitation, but there’s something in the environment that expands their latent potential exponentially—but at what cost?
Poets Lee Clark Zumpe, Kristine Ong Muslim, W.C. Roberts, and Shelly Bryant extend their creative tethers across space from “gilded captivity” in an alien zoo to a space trader who sells his organs to survive!

The Bandit's Sourcebook

It's taken a lot longer than we ever wanted it to, but The Bandit's Sourcebook for the Ephemeris RPG is now available...

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=94051

What have I been up to?

Regular readers of this blog have probably noticed that I haven't been posting much lately, so what have I been doing with my time?

I've been desperately trying to get The Bandits' Sourcebook for the Ephemeris RPG ready, and I'm happy to report that it should be available from DriveThruRPG some time in the next week.

I've been trying to get caught up on submissions for The Fifth Di... and The Martian Wave, which I was way too far behind on, and I'm happy to report that I'm not caught up.

I've also been busy formatting books and e-books for Sam's Dot...that battle never ends.

And on a personal note, I've been busy watching our youngest grow up so fast, and of course our older girls started back to school...so busy times indeed!

And of course I've been working at the "real" job...

Now, if I could just find some time to write...

No WorldCon for me

I'm really bummed that I won't be going to Renovation this year. With it being so close, I was really hoping that we'd be able to make the trip, but our finances just won't allow it. So, for those of you that are going...have a great time for me!

Hopefully we'll be able to make Chicago next year, but it will all depend on finances again...and with the monkey business going on in D.C., I'm not optimistic...

July recap

First blog of July

The Ephemeris anniversary

Christmas in July

The Martian Wave is here

An e-book price reduction

An e-book price reduction

Sam's Dot Publishing is tweaking prices on e-books as they figure out what the e-book market is really like. As a result, they've dropped the price on Red Moon Rising to $2.79.

Order a copy today...

The Martian Wave is here

I neglected to mention that my contributors' copies of the second issue of The Martian Wave arrived recently, and the issue looks great. I've been editing for many many years, but I'm especially proud of this issue. There is some truly great stuff in it.

Be sure to order yourself a copy at http://sdpbookstore.com/tmw.htm.

Christmas in July

DriveThruRPG is having their annual Xmas in July sale, and you can get any Ephemeris products for 25% off...so order before the end of the month.

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/rpg_xmas_in_july.php?manufacturers_id=2805&filters=0_0_0_0_31815#selectpub

The Ephemeris anniversary

Tomorrow (Sunday July 24th) will be the second anniversary of the release of the Ephemeris Role Playing Game. To celebrate this, we will be giving away free pdfs off and on throughout the day at the Ephemeris page on Facebook. You can find it at http://www.facebook.com/groups/11118817285?ap=1.

You must be a "friend" of the page in order to win. We will be giving away core rulebooks and supplements throughout the day, so join us...

First blog of July

It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of July and I haven't posted a single blog yet. I've been really busy, mostly putting in a lot of hours at the "real" job, and of course little Alexis keeps me on the run...I can't imagine what it will be like when she gets mobile.

I haven't really been able to get much of the work done that I really want to do, but I'm sure that will come in time.

Stay tuned, I promise to post more in the days to come...

June recap

June 2011 Aoife's Kiss

The Martian Wave 2011

What's Wrong with Ephemeris

Are you coming to the book signing?

Contributor's copy of Aoife's Kiss

Book signing tomorrow

Martin H. Greenberg

Martin H. Greenberg

Yesterday, SF anthologies Martin H. Greenberg passed away after a long battle with cancer. For those in the field, Greenberg was a giant, and to me personally, he was someone I admired, respected, and was influenced by.

I've edited several anthologies over the years, and in the back of my mind I always hoped to some day edit an anthology that was as good as the ones he edited...maybe some day.

The SF field has been greatly diminished, and he will be missed.

Book signing tomorrow

I just wanted to remind everyone in the Denver metro area that I will be reading from, and signing copies of Red Moon Rising tomorrow at the Broadway Book Mall at 3 pm. The Mall is located at 200 S. Broadway in Denver.

I've had quite a few people tell me that they're planning on attending, so you might want to get there early.

Contributors copy of Aoife's Kiss

My contributor's copy of the new issue of Aoife's Kiss arrived earlier this week. It's a big thick issue since it's an anniversary issue, and it looks like there's some great stuff in it.

I can't wait to actually find time to read it...yes, I hear all of the laughing.

To order your copy, go to http://sdpbookstore.com/aoifeskiss.htm

Are you coming to the book signing?

Just a reminder that I will be signing copies of Red Moon Rising at the Broadway Book Mall in Denver at 3 p.m. on Sunday June 26th. They will have copies of the book there, but if you're interested in reading the book before the signing (so you can come up with some truly brilliant questions for me), then there are a lot of places you can buy it. For example:

The Sam's Dot Bookstore

Amazon

They should also have copies of most of the other books I've written or edited. Hope to see a lot of you there...

What's wrong with Ephemeris

I recently got an e-mail from someone (who shall remain nameless) telling me what's wrong with Ephemeris. For those of you that are new to this blog, Ephemeris is a science fiction RPG that I'm the co-designer of.

According to this fellow, the problem with the game is that it doesn't have rigidly defined rules. Instead, a lot of the game play is supposed to be created by the players and the game master. Apparently, I don't know much about gaming because that's what an RPG is to me. When we created the game, we wanted something that was going to have a wide open playing style, much like the original and the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games. We didn't want to tell you exactly how to play the game, but apparently that was what this guy wanted. Sorry.

We wanted a system that would allow you to create your own campaigns, and given that the setting is the galaxy, well, there should be a lot you can do with that.

I think that's one of the problems I've had with a lot of the newer games, they're too rigidly defined, but maybe that's just me...

The Martian Wave 2011

The 2011 issue of The Martian Wave is now out. This is a magazine that I edited on-line for many years, and the 2011 issue is the second print issue. There are some great stories in this issue, and I'd recommend a copy for anyone that has an interest in the exploration and colonization of space.

The Sam's Dot Bookstore Martian Wave page

Here's the official write-up for this issue:

Where are we going? What will happen once we arrive? Will humanity endure, and if so, will we like what we become? The short answer is: we don't know. But we can guess. In The Martian Wave you'll find stories that make some very good guesses. You'll find heroes and heroines, characters to love and to loathe, and above all you'll find people very much like yourselves trying to find out what's out there, examine it, cope with it . . . and live.
The 21st Century holds many surprises for humanity. The Martian Wave will give you a few hints.

Issue 2
This issue of The Martian Wave includes six evocative tales and five thought-provoking poems that will launch you into escape velocity! Bear witness to first contact with the starship crew of Molly Brown and an alien observer as they communicate via music in “Grand Ol’ Opry” by Laura R. Givens. Join Captain Anjela Stewart and her first mate Chris Lockwood of the Venture Forth, in Robert J. Mendenhalls’s “Full Moon”, as they, and other refugee ships, are turned away from Beta and Moon Base, seeking sanctuary in the wake of earth-destroying asteroid XF11. There are other unique and breath-stealing tales. . .from Robert N. Stephenson’s “A Miner Delay” where AI 7-12 Silva argues with his human-centered boss that he deserves to be sent to earth for an emotional and physical upgrade; Douglas A. Smith’s “Hydrogen” takes you on board the Sir Francis Drake while the crew wrestles with a sudden incapacitating illness. . .Is it connected to their propulsion systems? Dan Thompson’s “Terminator”, propels you into imminent disaster with Engineering Architect Ben Gage and Colonel Katerina Petrovna Mayakovski as they attempt to reform an asteroid to house refugees from the Belt Confederacy and the United Nations of Earth war--amid the imminent threat of an Assassin attack!; and N.E. Chenier’s “Latency”, where research vessel Naut-47 is investigating HRK-a for developers of human colonies. The science crew discovers that not only is the planet suitable for habitation, but there’s something in the environment that expands their latent potential exponentially—but at what cost?
Poets Lee Clark Zumpe, Kristine Ong Muslim, W.C. Roberts, and Shelly Bryant extend their creative tethers across space from “gilded captivity” in an alien zoo to a space trader who sells his organs to survive!

June 2011 Aoife's Kiss

The June 2011 issue of Aoife's Kiss has just been released. This issue features my short story, "R-Complex." The story looks at who's crazier, government or radical religion...tough call, eh? Also in this issue is a short story from Robert Sawyer...yes, that Robert Sawyer. It's nice to share pages with such a great writer.

Here's the official write-up:

This is it: our 10th Anniversary issue. It's a Double Issue! The cover features Sandy DeLuca's "Lonely Night." Inside you'll find a short story by multiple Hugo Winner Robert J. Sawyer, who makes his debut with us. You'll also find a heap of other names, some familiar and some new, in this spectacular double issue, including Shelly Li, Greer Woodward, Marge Simon, J Alan Erwine, Tyree Campbell, Tim McDaniel, D. Moonfire, Edward Cox, Terrie Leigh Relf, Kimberly Richardson, Keith Graham, Dawn Marshallsay, Bruce Boston, Yunsheng Jiang, Shelly Bryant, Marcie Lynn Tentchoff, K. S. Hardy, and many, many more. There's also another writing article by KW Taylor, and a review of the movie "Thor" by Jacob Edwards.
stories
Greer Woodward: In Search Of Flight
Robert J. Sawyer: Star Light, Star Bright
Tyree Campbell: Starlet
Shelly Li: The Architect Of Apathy
J Alan Erwine: R-Complex
Tim McDaniel: A Little Green
D. Moonfire: Best Of Enemies
Kimberly Richardson: Violin
DoA Worrell: The Fermi Paradox
Ramon Rozas III: Night Of The Sevens
Edward Cox: Ideal Village
Dawn Marshallsay: Sleep-Less Highs
Susan E. Curnow: A Gift Horse
Gale Merrick: The Jeweled Necklace Of Ishtar
Keith P. Graham: Carnival Of Blood
Edward W. Robinson: In The Veins Of Arawn
Sam Kepfield: Azaleas
Barbara A. Barnett: The Deepening
poems
Denny Marshall: The Last Ride
Brock Marie Moore: nature, godhood, and the grave
Marsheila Rockwell: The Apprentice Stitchwitch
Bruce Boston: The Music Of Shapeshifters
Yunsheng Jiang: The Last Scene Of Act I
William R. Ford Jr.: The Last Day Of The Grieving Summer
Natasha King: Children Of All Spheres
Terrie Leigh Relf: The Ambassador From Ariadne IV
Brock Marie Moore: Tumble
Marcie Lynn Tentchoff: There Will Be Tea
Daniel Ausema: Spell
Marge B. Simon & Michael Fosberg: Cat Woman
William R. Ford Jr.: For Empire
Linda Ann Strang: Scheherezade Of The Fully Automatic
J. P. Cashla: The Hound
N. R. Allen: The Lamia
JC Crumpton: Another Year Has Passed And Still I Cannot Fly
Ilona Hegedus: After The Fright
Shelly Bryant: In The Goldilocks Zone
flash fiction
K. S. Hardy: Old Man Winter
features
KW Taylor: Science Fiction’s Usefulness As A Tool Of Argument
Jacob Edwards: Milestone Or Millstone – Sam Hignett & Eric Frank Russell
Jacob Edwards Review: Thor

May recap

2011 issue of The Martian Wave

An Ephemeris special

E-book price reduction

First words

Book signing